1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to a control system for remotely controlling the operation of plural motors such that devices coupled to the motors can be aimed or otherwise directed.
Discussion of the Prior Art: Described in our earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,344 is a system for controlling a large plurality of stage lights. It includes a microprocessor-based controller coupled to a plurality of satellite modules. Each satellite module also includes its own microprocessor along with plural motor control circuits and encoding means coupled to the motors for providing positional information back to the appropriate microprocessors. The memory of the controller module's microprocessor can be loaded with data to effect movement of any one or more of the lighting instruments in the tilt and pan directions to predetermined preset positions or to sweep out a predetermined pattern of illumination for achieving special effects.
While the system of our earlier patent may be used to effectively control a large plurality of lighting instruments and offers great flexibility in terms of being able to preselect the exact manner in which the lighting instruments are to be directed and the automatic execution of a predetermined motion program, that system tends to be relatively costly and, hence, may be beyond the reach of many entertainment groups or entertainment facilities in which such groups perform. To satisfy the market for a less costly system, we have now devised an arrangement for directing the movement of a plurality of devices from a remote location which, although limited in functional capability, affords the user with the ability to either manually or automatically effect a desire movement and positioning of the devices in the tilt and pan directions.
In particular, the system in accordance with the present invention incorporates a plurality of motors, operating in pairs, to effect movement of a device such as a lighting instrument, a camera, a photographic projector or other related type of equipment so as to point or orient that device in a desired fashion. To accomplish this, associated with each motor pair is a motor control circuit which, upon receipt of appropriate digital inputs indicative of movement direction and enable status, causes energization of the motors and movement of the devices driven thereby. The individual motor control circuits are intercoupled by a local bus which groups a predetermined number of motor control circuits to one another and which allows expansion by daisy-chaining additional local bus assemblies onto a master bus. The master bus is used to distribute the enable and directional control signals originating at either a manually operable touch pad device or, alternatively, at an automatic, electronic control signal generator. By providing appropriate, manually-operable switches between the local bus and its associated motor control circuits and between the touch pad, the automatic control signal generator and the master bus, the operator is provided with a degree of flexibility in selecting which of the plural motors is to be operated and the direction and extent of motor rotation. As such, considerable flexibility is afforded to the low-cost system in terms of being able to design an overall repetitive motion pattern for the devices being controlled.